Lips of an Angel
by airlinegal
Summary: A late night phone call leaves two people remembering the past.


**Author's Note: I don't own any characters by Janet Evanovich. They all belong to her, I'm just taking them out to play a little bit. It's been a while since I've done any Fan Fiction, so please be gentle with the reviews! I hope to work myself up to doing a longer fic, but in the meantime might repost some I've posted on some of the Yahoo! Groups in the past! All words in Italics are property of the band Hinder.**

_**Lips of an Angel**_

_Honey why you calling me so late?  
>It's kinda hard to talk right now.<br>Honey why are you crying? Is everything okay?  
>I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud<em>

He looked at the readout as his phone rang, and couldn't believe the number he saw. It had been at least a year since they last talked. It had been even longer since he last saw her. Not since she chose _him_. He tried to avoid places where he might run into them. He glanced from the kitchen into the living room, and saw that his fiancée was engrossed in whatever show was on the television. He knew that he couldn't give anything away when he answered, he didn't want to alert her that he was talking to _her_.

"Hello?"

"Hi," she said it softly. He could hear the trace of tears in her voice, and it tore at him. "Can you talk?"

He glanced into the next room again, and walked a little further into the kitchen. "If I talk softly I can."

"How're you doing?" She asked hesitantly.

"I'm good, you know I'm engaged."

"I heard, I'm really happy for you." I could hear a trace of something in her voice, but I couldn't tell what it was. I used to be able to tell everything about her by the sound of her voice, but now it was a lot more difficult.

_Well, my girl's in the next room  
>Sometimes I wish she was you<br>I guess we never really moved on  
>It's really good to hear your voice saying my name<br>It sounds so sweet  
>Coming from the lips of an angel<br>Hearing those words it makes me weak_

"I miss you Stephanie," I used her name softly, but still loud enough that she could hear. I couldn't allow myself to call her that special nickname I had for her. I knew I could never call someone that name again.

"I want to say your name so much, but I can't. He's still around, just in another room. I miss you so much. I think…" She trailed off, as if unable to continue what she wanted to say.

_And I never wanna say goodbye  
>But girl you make it hard to be faithful<br>With the lips of an angel_

"Do you need to go if he's so close?" I asked it hesitantly, because I missed hearing the sound of her voice. I missed so much about her. I closed my eyes for a minute, and allowed myself to remember the scent of her, Dolce Vita, and something else, something fruity. I think she used to use some type of fruity shampoo in her hair.

She laughed softly, although this time I heard just a touch of bitterness. "Does it matter if I say yes or no? I don't want to hang up. I miss you so much. I, um, I-I-I've been thinking about you a lot lately. The past few nights, I've dreamt about you as well." There was a moment when she took a breath. "Do you ever think about me?"

_It's funny that you're calling me tonight  
>And, yes, I've dreamt of you too<br>And does he know you're talking to me  
>Will it start a fight<br>No I don't think she has a clue_

I laughed softly. "I think about you all the time. In fact, last night I dreamt about you."

I heard her breath hitch for a second. "You did?"

"Yeah, I did. Remember that trip we took to Point Pleasant? I dreamt that we were back there last night. Only this time, we didn't make it back to Trenton. This time we decided to stay."

I knew she would understand the meaning behind those words. If we had stayed in Point Pleasant, we might still be together. If we had only stayed…

"I wish we had stayed too."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I think…" she began again, but then paused, as if listening to something that I couldn't hear.

"Does he know that you're calling me?" I asked, wanting to know if he had any idea who she was talking to.

"He doesn't know. He doesn't like it when I talk about you, even if I've seen you around town. I might mention seeing you in passing, and he gets so mad. I never knew…" She trailed off again. She had said so much, but left so much unsaid at the same time.

I was stunned; I had hardly seen her around at all since everything had gone down. From the sounds of it though, she saw me around all the time. I closed my eyes and tried to remember when I might have seen her around town. Besides at the station, I couldn't really think of any other time we could have seen one another.

Softly, she said, "He would lose it if he knew that we were talking right now."

_Well my girl's in the next room  
>Sometimes I wish she was you<br>I guess we never really moved on  
>It's really good to hear your voice saying my name<br>It sounds so sweet  
>Coming from the lips of an angel<br>Hearing those words it makes me weak  
><em>

I glanced over into the living room again, and saw the show she was watching looked like it was getting ready to end. I hoped that she would stay in the living room, and watch whatever it was that would come on next, but somehow I knew that I was on borrowed time. I didn't want my conversation to end, it had been so long since we had talked, and I loved the sound of her voice.

"Steph, I might have to go soon."

She sighed, almost brokenly. "I understand. I just, I needed…" I heard her sigh softly. "I needed to hear your voice. I miss you so much, and I think I might have made the wrong choice," she said the last part softly and in a rush, but I heard her just the same.

_And I never wanna say goodbye  
>But girl you make it hard to be faithful<br>With the lips of an angel_

"You know I don't want to say good-bye. I never wanted to say good-bye in the first place."

"I know you didn't. It was all my fault."

"I'm not going to let you take the blame you know. It was both of our faults."

I heard her sigh softly, and her breath hitched again, and I could tell she was trying not to cry.

"If you want, I will come and get you! We can go away together!" He said quietly, but desperately. Deep down inside, he knew it wouldn't happen. If there was anything _she_ had taught it him, it was that faithfulness was important to both of them.

"No. I made my choice. I know he loves me, it's just really hard sometimes."

There was another noise in the background. I listened, and could tell she hadn't hung up.

"Are you still there?" It was a stupid question, I would've heard the click I she had hung up.

"I have to go, but before I do…"She trailed off, sounding uncertain.

"I love you." She said it quietly, softly but I heard her. Before I could respond, I heard a quiet click.

"Babe…"_  
><em>


End file.
